Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.

3. who, being the reflection of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things with His mighty command, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in the highest after he, by the sacrifice of himself, had provided for the cleansing of our sins.

4. He was created as much superior to the angels as the title he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

5. For to which of the angels did He ever say, “You are my Son; today, I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son”?

6. And again, when He brought the firstborn into the world, He said, “Now, let all God’s angels worship him!”

7. Now, of the angels it says, “He who makes His angels spirits, and His ministers a fiery flame.”

8. But to the Son, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness.

9. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore, God, even your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your fellows.”

10. And, “You, Lord, in the beginning, laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands.

11. They will be destroyed, but you endure. They all will grow old like a garment,

12. and you will roll them up like a cloak, and they will be changed; but you are the same, and your years will never end.”

13. And to which of the angels has He ever said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool”?

14. Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to render service for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?

11. For both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all of One, for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brothers,

12. saying, “I will declare your name to my brothers. In the midst of the congregation will I sing you praise.”

13. And again, “As for me, I will trust in Him!” And again, “Behold, I and the children whom God gave me.”

14. Inasmuch, then, as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he likewise partook of these so that by means of death, he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the Accuser,

15. and set free those who through fear of death their whole lives were subject to bondage.

16. (For it is obvious that he did not take on the nature of angels, but took on himself that of the seed of Abraham.)

17. For that purpose, he had to be made like his brothers in every way, so that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in matters pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

18. For inasmuch as he, himself, has suffered being tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.

3. For we who believe are entering into a rest, as He said, “So, I swore in my wrath, ‘— if they ever enter into my rest!’” although His works were finished from the foundation of the world.

4. For He spoke in a certain place about the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works,”

5. and again, in this place: “They shall never enter into my rest.”

6. Then, inasmuch as it remains for some to enter into it, and those who first heard the gospel did not enter in because of disobedience,

7. once more, He specifies a certain day — “today” — saying through David after so long a time, as has already been said, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.”

8. For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not later have spoken of another day.

9. Therefore, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.

10. For he who has entered into his rest has himself also ceased from his works, just as God ceased from His.

11. Let us, then, make every effort to enter into that rest, lest anyone fall after the same pattern of disobedience.

12. For the word of God is alive, and powerful, and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is able to judge the thoughts and intents of the heart.

13. And there is no creature hidden from His sight; all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom wemust give our account.

¶14. Having, therefore, a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

15. For we do not have a high priest who cannot be touched by our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way that we are, yet without sin.

16. Let us, then, boldly draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

3. and for this reason he is obligated to make offerings for sins for himself, just as for the people.

4. And no one takes this honor upon himself, but one called of God, as in the case of Aaron.

5. Likewise, even Christ did not glorify himself to be made High Priest, but He who said to him, “You are my Son; today, I have begotten you.”

6. Even as He also spoke in another place: “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”

7. This man, in the days of his flesh, offered, with strong crying and tears, both prayers and supplications to the One who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his fear of God.

8. For although he was a Son, he learned obedience by the things that he suffered,

9. and when he had been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him,

10. ordained by God “a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek.”

¶11. Concerning this matter we have much to say, but it is difficult to explain because you have become hard of hearing.

12. For the time having come when you ought to be teachers, you need someone to re-teach you what are the elementary principals of God’s oracles, and you have become such as need milk, and not solid food.

13. Everyone who lives on milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.

14. But solid food is for those fully grown, who by experience have the senses trained to discern both good and evil.

3. being without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest perpetually.

¶4. Consider how great this man was, to whom even Abraham the patriarch rendered a tithe of the spoils.

5. On the one hand, those of the sons of Levi, in receiving the priestly office under the law, have a commandment to take tithes from the people, that is, from their own brothers although they, too, came from Abraham’s loins,

6. but on the other hand, he whose genealogy is not from them received tithes from Abraham, and blessed him who had the promises.

7. And without any contradiction, the lesser is blessed by the greater.

8. And on the one hand, men who die receive tithes, but on the other, he is receiving them of whom witness is given that he is alive.

10. for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.

¶11. Now, if perfection really came through the Levitical priesthood (for through it, the people were taught the law), why was there yet a need for a different kind of priest to arise “after the order of Melchizedek”, and not be called “after the order of Aaron”?

12. And since the priesthood is changed, there must also be a change of law.

13. For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to a different tribe, from which no one attended the altar.

14. For it is well known that our Lord sprang from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.

15. And it becomes clearer still when a different kind of priest like Melchizedek arises,

16. who is made priest not by the law’s fleshly commandment but by the power of an endless life,

17. for He testified, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”

18. So, while there was a setting aside of the previous commandment because of its weakness and inadequacy

19. (for the law made nothing perfect), at the same time, there was an introduction of a better hope, by which we draw near to God.

20. And as much greater as having an oath is (for those were undeniably made priests without an oath,

21. but he with an oath from the One who said to him, “The Lord has sworn and will not repent, ‘You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek’”),

22. of just so much greater a covenant has Jesus become the surety.

23. Now, many then were made priests, for death prevented them from continuing,

24. but now, he has a perpetual priesthood because he lives forever.

25. Therefore, he is able also to save completely and forever those who come to God through him, seeing that he is always alive to make intercession for them.

¶26. It was fitting that we should have such a High Priest — holy, innocent, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens,

27. who does not need, as did those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for their own sins and then for those of the people, for this he did once for all when he offered up himself.

28. For the law ordains as high priests men who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, ordained forever the perfected Son.

3. Now, every high priest is ordained to make offerings of both gifts and sacrifices; therefore, it was necessary that this man also have something to offer.

4. And if he was on earth, he would not be a priest, there being priests already who offer gifts according to the law,

5. who minister in the pattern and shadow of things in heaven, as Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle, “See to it, He said, that you build everything according to the pattern shown to you on the mountain.”

6. But now Jesus has obtained a far superior ministry, as much as he is mediator of a better covenant, which is established upon better promises.

7. You see, if that first covenant had been flawless, no place would have been sought for a second.

8. But finding fault with them, He said, “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,

9. not the kind of covenant that I made with their fathers in the day I took their hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant, and so, I did not regard them, says the Lord.

10. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws into their mind and write them on their heart, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.

11. And no one shall teach his neighbor, and no one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord!’ because everyone will know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.

12. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will never again remember their sins and their lawless deeds.”

13. In that He said, “new”, He has made the first old. And that which is becoming obsolete and growing old is about to vanish away.

3. Then, after the second veil, is the part of the tabernacle called the Most Holy,

4. having the golden incense altar, and the ark of the covenant, completely covered with gold and in which was the golden pot containing manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant,

5. and above which, overshadowing the mercy seat, are the cherubim of glory — concerning which things it is not the time now to speak in detail.

6. Now, these things having been thus prepared, the priests enter into the first tabernacle continually, performing the divine rites,

7. but into the second enters the high priest alone, once each year — not without blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people,

8. the holy Spirit indicating this: the way into the Holiest was not yet revealed as long as the first tabernacle still had a purpose,

9. which was a figure for the time that has come, during which are being offered gifts and sacrifices that are powerless to perfect, as concerns the conscience, the one performing the rites,

10. for it is based only upon meats and drinks, and various washings, and ordinances for the flesh, imposed until the time of the new order.

¶11. But Christ, appearing as a High Priest of good things to come, in a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by hands (that is, not of this creation),

12. neither with the blood of goats and oxen, but with his own blood, entered once for all into the sanctuary, obtaining eternal redemption.

13. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the defiled sanctifies for the purification of the flesh,

14. how much more does the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve a living God?

15. And for this purpose, he is mediator of a new covenant, in order that, a death being accomplished for the redemption of transgressions that were under the first covenant, those who have been called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

16. Now, where a testament is, the death of the testator must be confirmed.

17. For a testament is in force after men are dead; it has no force at all while the testator is alive.

18. Therefore, not even the first testament was instituted without blood.

19. For when every commandment of the law had been spoken by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of bullocks and goats, along with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and he sprinkled both the book itself and all the people,

20. saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God has ordained for you.”

21. And both the tabernacle and all the utensils of the ministry he likewise sprinkled with the blood.

22. Moreover, under the law, almost everything is purified by blood, and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.

¶23. So then, it was necessary that the figures of heavenly things be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

24. For Christ did not enter into holy places made by hands, figures of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us,

25. not to offer himself over and over again, as the high priest entered into the sanctuary year after year with the blood of others,

26. for then he would have had to suffer many times from the foundation of the world. But now, once for all, at the close of the ages, he has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

27. And just as it is appointed to men once to die, and after that the Judgment,

28. so also, Christ, being offered once for all to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to bring salvation to those who long for him.

Chapter 10

¶1. You see, the law, containing a shadow of the good things to come,not the actual form of those things, can never make perfect those who approach the altar with the same sacrifices they offer continually, year after year.

3. On the contrary, in those sacrifices, remembrance of sins is made each year,

4. for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

5. This is why, when coming into the world, he said, “Sacrifice and offering you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me.

6. In whole burnt offerings and such for sin, you have taken no pleasure.

7. Then I said, ‘Behold, I am here (in a roll of a book it is written of me) to do your will, O God!’”

8. Above, when he said, “Sacrifice and offering and whole burnt offerings and such for sin, you have not desired, nor taken pleasure” (which things were offered under the law),

9. he then said, “Behold, I am here to do your will, O God!” He is doing away with the first covenant, that He might establish the second.

10. By whose will, we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all.

11. Moreover, every single priest stands daily, ministering and offering the same sacrifices, time after time, which can never take away sins,

12. but he, having offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, sat down at the right hand of God,

13. since that time, waiting until his enemies be made a footstool for his feet.

14. For by one offering, he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.

15. The holy Spirit also bears witness to us, for after having said,

16. “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and on their minds will I write them,”

17. then it said, “Of their sins and their lawless deeds will I will never be reminded again.”

18. Now, where there is remission for these things, there is no more offering for sin.

¶19. Therefore, brothers, having boldness by the blood of Jesus for entrance into the Holiest,

20. which new and living way he opened up for us through the veil, that is, his flesh,

21. and having a great Priest over the house of God,

22. let us draw near with a true heart, in the full assurance of faith, our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and the body washed with pure water,

23. let us hold fast the confession of the hope without wavering, for He who made the promise is faithful,

24. and let us consider how we may provoke one another to love and to good works,

25. not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day approaching.

¶26. Now, if after receiving the knowledge of the truth, we willfully go on sinning, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,

27. but only a fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation that will consume the adversaries.

28. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy, by two or three witnesses.

29. Of how much worse punishment, do you think, will he be worthy who has trampled under foot the Son of God, has regarded as a common thing the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has done outrage to the Spirit of grace?

30. For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.”

31. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God.

¶32. Remember the former days in which, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings,

33. sometimes being publicly exposed to insults and afflictions, and sometimes being companions of those similarly treated.

34. For you showed sympathy for my bonds, and you joyfully accepted the seizing of your possessions, knowing within yourselves that you have a greater and lasting possession in heaven.

35. Do not, therefore, throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.

36. You have need of patience, that after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise.

37. For in just a very, very little while, “He who is coming shall come, and he will not tarry.”

38. Now, “The righteous man shall live by faith,” and yet, if he shrinks back, “My soul takes no pleasure in him.”

39. But as for us, we are not moved by cowardice, which leads to destruction, but by faith, which leads to the saving of the soul.

Chapter 11

3. By faith, we understand that the worlds were created by an utterance from God, so that things that are seen were not made from visible things.

4. By faith, Abel offered a better sacrifice to God than did Cain, by which he was borne witness that he was righteous, God bearing witness to his gifts, and by it, he, being dead, still spoke.

5. By faith, Enoch was translated, so that he did not see death, and he was not found because God had translated him, for before his translation, he was borne witness that he pleased God.

6. But without faith, it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

7. By faith, Noah, having been warned of things not yet seen, moved with fear, constructed an ark for the saving of his house, by which he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that is by faith.

8. By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obediently went out toward the place which he would later receive for an inheritance, and he went out, not knowing where he was going.

9. By faith, he lived in the land of promise as a stranger in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, joint-heirs of the same promise,

10. for he was waiting for the city which has foundations, whose Architect and Builder is God.

11. By faith also, Sarah herself, though past the age, received strength to conceive seed and gave birth, for she considered Him faithful who made the promise.

12. And so, from one man were born as many as the stars of heaven in multitude, and as the sand along the seashore, without number — and they from a man as good as dead!

¶13. These all died in faith, not having received the promises; however, they saw them far away, and welcomed them, and confessed that they were foreigners and pilgrims on the earth.

14. Now, they who say such things make it plain that they are looking for a homeland.

15. But if they keep thinking on that land out of which they came, they would, no doubt, have opportunity to return.

16. But as it is, they long for a better, that is, a heavenly country; therefore, God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for He has prepared for them a city.

¶17. By faith, when Abraham was tried, he offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his uniquely begotten son

3. Consider him who endured such hostility of sinners against himself, lest you grow weary in your souls and lose heart.

4. For you have not yet resisted to the death, striving against sin,

5. and you have forgotten the exhortation which instructs you as sons: “My son, do not lightly esteem the Lord’s correction; neither be discouraged by His reproof,

6. for whom the Lord loves, He chastens, and He scourges every son whom He receives.”

7. If you endure chastisement,[4] God deals with you as with sons, for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?

8. But if you are without chastisement, of which all have been partakers, then you are bastards, and not sons.

9. Furthermore, we certainly have had fathers of our flesh who chastened us, and we reverenced them. Shall we not much rather submit ourselves to the Father of spirits, and live?

10. They, for just a short time, disciplined us as it pleased them; but He, for our benefit, that we might partake of His holiness.

11. Now, no discipline, for just that moment, seems joyous, but grievous; however, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness in those who have been trained by it.

12. Wherefore, “Straighten up the listless hands and the feeble knees,”

13. and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned aside, but let it be healed instead.

¶14. Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness, without which no man will see the Lord,

15. taking care, that no one come short of the grace of God, that no root of bitterness springing up cause trouble (and by this many be defiled),

16. that no one be licentious, or be profane like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.

17. For you know that even afterwards, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place of repentance, even though he earnestly sought it with tears.

¶18. For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched, with blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and raging storm,

19. and trumpet blast, and a voice speaking, which voice was such that those who heard it begged that nothing more be said to them,

20. for they could not endure that which was commanded: “If even an animal touch the mountain, it shall be stoned”;

21. indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am full of fear and trembling.”

22. But you have come to Mount Zion, and a city of a living God, heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels,

23. to a festive gathering and Assembly of first-born, whose names are recorded in heaven, and to God, Judge of all, and to spirits of righteous people made perfect,

24. and to a mediator of a new covenant, Jesus, and to sprinkled blood, which speaks better things than that of Abel.

25. Beware that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape when they refused the one on earth who instructed them, much less shall we escape who turn away from the One who speaks from heaven,

26. whose voice then shook the earth, but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more, I will shake not only the earth, but also heaven.”

27. Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of the things which are shaken, that is, things which are made, so that things which are not shaken may remain.

28. Wherefore, receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us show gratitude, by which, with reverence and fear of God, we serve God acceptably,

Chapter 13

3. Remember the prisoners, as though imprisoned with them, and those who are ill-treated, as being them also in body.

4. Marriage is altogether honorable, and the bed undefiled, but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

5. Let your conduct be without covetousness, being content with what you possess, for he has said, “I will never leave you, nor forsake you.”

6. So, we may boldly say, “The Lord is my helper, and I will not be afraid of what man will do to me.”

¶7. Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken to you the word of God; imitate their faith, considering the end result of their manner of life.

8. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today, and forever.

9. Do not be carried away with various and strange doctrines. It is good for the heart to be established in grace, not by rules concerning food, for those who lived by them were not benefitted.

10. We have an altar from which they who minister in the earthly tabernacle have no right to eat.

11. The bodies of the animals whose blood is brought for sin into the sanctuary by the high priest are burned outside the camp.

12. Wherefore, Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate.

13. So then, let us go to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach.

14. For we do not have here an enduring city; rather, we seek the one that is coming.

15. By him, therefore, let us always offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips confessing his name.[5]

16. And do not neglect well-doing and generosity, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

17. Obey those who rule over you, and submit, for they watch over your souls, as those who will render an account, that they may do it with joy, and not with sadness, for that would not be good for you.

¶18. Pray for us; for we are confident that we have a good conscience, in everything being willing to conduct ourselves uprightly.

19. And I especially urge you to do this so that I be restored to you the sooner.

¶20. Now, may the God of peace, who by the blood of the eternal covenant brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus,

21. equip you for every good work, that you might do His will, doing in you what is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

¶22. And I entreat you, brothers, that you endure the word of exhortation, for I have written you but a few words.

23. Know that brother Timothy has been released, with whom, if he comes soon, I will see you.

¶24. Greet all of your leaders and all the saints. Those of Italy send you greetings.

¶25. Grace be with you all. Amen.

Footnotes

[1] Or, “in all His affairs”. This is a reference to Numbers 12:7. The Hebrew word can mean “household affairs”.

[2] The curse attached to this kind of oath is so unthinkable — God’s death and damnation — that it is not even uttered. It would be something like, “I will damn myself before they enter into my rest!” See also 4:3.

Bible Translations

The Old and New Testament books that Pastor John Clark, Sr. has completed translating are listed below. These translations have been made from the commonly available Hebrew texts of the Old Testament and the Byzantine text form of the New Testament. As books are completed they will become available here. PDF documents are also provided for download and printing purposes.